Advantages and Limitations of Various Methods Used to Study Occupational Fall Accident Patterns

Abstract

This paper presents a discussion of over six years of research performed by the author and funded principally by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the United States. Three major studies have thus far looked at falls on level working surfaces, falls on stairs, and falls from ladders. To a lesser extent, in other studies, falls from other elevated workstations have been looked at. A combination of case history, epidemiologically-based, and experimentally controlled, retrospective and prospective, field study approaches have been used, including:

• 1.

Review of existing injury records,

2.

Detailed accident investigations, involving both interviews and site observations,

3.

Comprehensive, case-control, retrospective interview and site observation surveys,

4.

Prospective longitudinal studies involving both setting up and operating for several years safety and health information systems for specific high risk industries, and

5.

Video recorded observations of critical incidents as they actually occurred over extended periods at high risk worksites.

Findings to date are discussed in light of the types of data best obtainable from each approach, as well as ergonomics principles for controlling workplace accidents resulting from falls.